She was told ten years ago that she wouldn’t live without a heart transplant.

But Laura Heslop has defied the odds and is living her life to the full - and is urging people to sign the organ donor register.

The 29-year-old, from Killingworth, was diagnosed with the heart condition dilated cardiomyopathy when she was just 18 after she fell ill with the flu which left her feeling unusually breathless.

In a devastating blow, doctors told her she would not survive without a heart transplant beyond 2004.

But just over ten years after her original diagnosis, Laura has fought to live a normal life despite the condition, which leaves her constantly tired and unable to work.

Now, after ten years of waiting for a heart transplant, she has urged people to donate their organs and make their families aware of their wishes.

Laura Heslop who is on the heart transplant list

She said: “Let your family and friends know that you want to give your organs. They’re the gift of life you can’t take with you.

“I’ve been waiting for a transplant for the last ten years and eventually I will need one. I’m glad I’m stable. I get very anxious because you never know what’s around the corner.

“You can go rapidly down hill. I’ll be put on the list when I suddenly get ill. I could start going down hill tomorrow and need a transplant that week. It’s really unpredictable.”

She spoke of how she had been forced to give up her job as a beauty advisor at M&S due to the condition while her confidence was severely knocked as a teenage girl.

“It was just devastating. All of a sudden I went from this 18-year-old girl to feeling like an old lady,” she said. “It was really scary. I went from having the flu to needing a transplant. I wish I had known about the risks - who would know you could catch a heart condition off the flu?

“When you’re a young girl you want to marry someone and have children. That was put on the back burner. I do get upset thinking of the life I should have had. But I’ve planned to deal with it.”

Laura Heslop from Killingworth

And now, after getting her confidence back thanks to support group sessions with other patients with heart problems at the RVI, she is volunteering as a secretary at the Wallsend Memorial Hall.

She said: “My confidence has really grown, it’s taken me ten years to get my confidence back. The group has got me back up from a dark place. It’s a group where we all understand each other.”

Most recently, she has raised £3,000 for the Cardiomyopathy Association after hosting an event to celebrate the fact that she has lived ten years on from her original diagnosis.

And she advised others who might feel unusually breathless after a bout of the flu to see their doctor as soon as they can.

She said: “If you have flu symptoms for a few weeks and if you’re really breathless and that’s unusual for you, go to the doctors. I went and they said it was my weight. But I had three stones of water on my lungs. Don’t take no for an answer.”